When looking through the recommended rums here in the forum or the best-rated rums in the app I noticed that most of them are rather expensive and/or not available anymore. That’s why I’d like to turn this thread into a list of the best more accessible rums, that are part of the standard line of the distilleries and IBs.
I’ve tasted far fewer rums than most of you did since I am still at the beginning of my rum journey, but these are the best I tried recently:
Mount Gay XO (RX2067)
Hampden Pure Single Jamaican Rum 8 Years Overproof (RX51)
Velier Veritas (RX235)
I’d love to benefit from your broad experiences and would appreciate any additions!
Full List
Sipping Rums:
Doorly’s XO (RX2067)
Hampden Pure Single Jamaican Rum 8 Years (RX11)
Hampden Pure Single Jamaican Rum 8 Years Overproof (RX51)
Rhum J.M. XO (RX34)
Velier Veritas (RX235)
Worthy Park 109 (RX9767)
Cocktail Rums:
Havana Club 3 Anos, 5 Anos Anejo Especial & 7 Anos Anejo (RX91, RX41 & RX49)
Plantation OFTD (RX323)
Velier Veritas (RX235)
I second the Hampden 8 yo Standard Release and Overproof, as well as the Veritas, However the Standard release might be better suited Zi Mixing and in general due to it being cheaper.
For Cocktails, around here Havana Club up to the 7 years is a staple. I would also say, in regards to affordable cocktails, Plantation OFTD (or whatever) is quite good.
The Worthy Park releases are quite nice, too. Although I don’t like the Worthy Park Estate standard rum that much.
In the agricole world I like more rums out of the standard range.
Rhum JM XO is fantastic. Trois Rivieres De l’Ocean Rhum Vieux is nice, too. Other Xos from Depaz etc are said to be very good as well.
The TCRL Fiji 2014 is not a standard release but widely available an perhaps the best value for money on the market.
I forgot about Don Q. They produce super light rum, but of decent quality the 2009 Selected Barrel is a very good light rum. Their Port Cask is quite drinkable as well. I want to check out the reserve 7 soon
Price-Performance Ratio für mich aktuell ganz klar der Worthy Park 109.
Wenns Agricole sein soll geht auch Saint James Cour de Chauffe oder etwas in die Richtung.
Im Daiquri ist der Veritas auch durchaus eine gute Option, wobei es da auch jede Menge von Clairin gäbe was mindestens genauso gut ist.
While there are some that I buy repeatedly, I prefer to keep exploring rather than sticking to a list.
I find the offer of Doorly’s and Appleton quite decent for repeated buys. Foursquare has several new releases every year and these are solid but middle-priced, at least. Pusser’s is a cool cheap sipper for me.
However, I find that the ones I like the most are generally stronger then 50% and such rums are rarely produced continuously. Thus, I rather stick to single vintages but keep on the same marque. For example, the SWR has always been outstanding for me, bo matter which bottler from (but of course I haven’t tried all).
I really enjoyed the Sample Rodolphe sent me. I was sure to buy a bottle, but it never happened. I even had it in the cart several times but I didn’t actually purchase it. I don’t know what kept me from doing so. I have a few Single Cask Releases with a similar style, this is probably the crucial reason I never bought a bottle.